Dental device



April 3, 1928. 1,664,433

E. SEABROOK DENTAL DEVICE Filed Dec. 8, 1925 mmvron Patented Apr. 3 1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE SEABROOK, or New YORK, iv. Y.

DENTAL DEVICE.

' Application filed December This invention relates to improvements in of a class of devices for securely holding one or more artificial teeth in the mouth of a 5 person so as to protect said toothor'teeth from being displaced, as in the act of masticating, and to enable the user readily and quickly to remove the tooth-holding dev ce 1 from the mouth and to reinsert said device in place in the mouth, as, for example, when desired for the purpose of cleaning the device. One of theobjects of my invention is to provide a dental device for so .restormg one or more teeth that the abutment or abutnients shall undergo no stress whenin use.

It is an object of'this invention to simplify the art ofrestoring one or more extracted-teeth by minimizing the extensiv'eness' of the elements auxiliary to the arti- ,ficial tooth or teeth that must be kept in the mouth so long as an artificial tooth is in use. As is well known in'the art, it is often'necess'ary that, for example, an upper last artificial molar can be anchored in the mouth of the user only by means of a denture extended across to the opposite side of the mouth. One of the objects of my invention is, in such cases, to obviate the use of said denture and, instead, to anchor the artificial tooth or group of teeth" to one or two abutments adjacent to the tooth .or

teeth-to be restored. These and otherobjects are shown in this specification, which 'is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which a s V Fig. I is a plan ofthe abutment. Fig.

II is a plan of the saddle. Fig. III is a plan of the posterior portion of the rod.

Fig. IV is a side elevation of one tooth ,re-.

. stored. Fig. V is. a vertical section of the v restoredtooth on the line AB. Fig. VI 1s anendelevation, andFig. VII a side elevation of a lock split rod.

It may be observed that said drawings represent the objects magnified, thereby illustrating the smaller parts more clearly than if drawn at natural size. It-may be further observed that there is no essential difference between my invention as applied to an upper an'djto a lower-tooth or teeth to be restored, Accordingly, my drawings and the subsequent part of this specification show my invention illustrated and described. in the case of one lower tooth to be restored.

5 It will appear that,in this description, one

8, 1925. Serial No. 74,113.

abutment used and said abutment is an- I terior to the tooth to be restored.

According to my invention, 1 provide a saddle 2. Said saddle is of the kind that isknown in the art as a tissue bearing saddle. Saddle 2 may. consist of any of the materials usual to a saddle, such as gold, platinum, aluminium, or rubber. I permanently fasten an artificial tooth 3 at any convenient point, as at the central part, of the saddle. At predetermined points of the saddle, preferably one anterior and the other posterior to the artificial tooth'3, I provide upwardly directed projections 4. Each projection includes a mortise 5, and'l preferably make'the respective mortises directed open to the corresponding ends of the saddle, as may be noted in Fig. II.

I provide a tenon, described below, for each of said mo rtises; and a mortise andico operating ,tenon, as herein described, constitute what is known in the art as an attachment. As will appear, I so make and adjust each said mortiseland tenon as to cause said attachment to allow lateral-and vertical movement of the saddle.

In the form of my saddle illustrated in the drawings, I provide, for each mortise,

a sleeve 6, referably a cylindrical hole. Each sleeve, eginning: at the'inn'er vendfof the corresponding mortise, extends substantially horizontally towards each other. In

accordance with a "preferred form of invention, I provide a substantially .horizontal slot 7 through the lingual side of the saddle for each sleeve 6,'the inner side of each slot "terminating in the side of'an'd, therefore, communicating with, the [corresponding sleeve. I

Into each sleeve 6, Iinsert a plunger 8 of any suitable material, for example gold or platinum. I provide means for holding the plunger loosely and resiliently in the sleeve. For that purpose'I provide, in'this illustrating form of my invention, a cushion 9 of any suitable material, such as elastic soft rubber, placed in the inner end of the sleeve. v

Each plunger is provided with a stud 10 adapted slidably to project through slot 7,-

It may be observedthat, in each sleeve,

cushion 9 elastically keeps the plunger outwardly, thus causing stud 10 to press against the outward end of the-slot. This position of the plunger is herein termed the locking 'ner, as, for instance, by soldering.

position. In said position, the free end of the plunger suitably protrudes beyond the outer end of the sleeve, as shown in Fig. II.-

tion.

For each abutment I provide a crown,

band, or inlay, which may consist of goldor platinum. Accordingly, in this illustrating application of my invention I provide a crown 11. Said crown, also a rod, described below, contains a tenon 12, which is adapted to be received by the above mentioned mortise.

I provide a rod 13, which is permanently fastened to crown 11 in any convenient man- Rod 13 may be integral with crown 11. The free end of rod 13 is preferably bent substantially at'a right angle to the central part of the rod.

v tains a socket 14. The sockets are designed to receive, at times, the outer ends of the cooperating plungers, thereby locking the saddle to the abutment member and the rod. It will appear later, when vertical motion will be considered, that socket 14 may conveniently assume a U shape open downward. In this application of my invention, in which the plungers are held by the saddle, I provide, for each tenon, a screw 15. Said screw is one of my forms of my adjusting member. It is well known in the art that,

for example on account of resorption, the saddle should be susceptible to slight vertical'motion. As shown'in Fig. IV, the screw, at its lower end, press'es'downwardly on the free end of plunger 8. A dentist, by caus ing screw '15 slightly to advance or recede,

may cause the saddle to press more or less on the patients gum.

Referring to Fig. II, it may be observed that plungers 8 normally assume the locking position, dueto the elasticity of cushion 9.

By pushing the plungers to the unlocking position, as above described, the user may cause the mortises to be unobstructed. The

"user. of my invention, holding the plungers the plungers, immediately assuming the locking position, lock the saddle on the users gum.

Assume artificial tooth 3 to be in place, as

shown in Fig. IV. By pressing studs 10 t wards each other, the user will cause the lock split rod.

said tenons laterally.

mortises to be unobstructed from the plungers. Thus the user becomes free to slide the mortises upwardly around the tenons and remove the tooth-containing saddle from his mouth.

An alternative form of my rod difi'ers'with the foregoing form at any convenient point between the rod tenon and the juncture between the rod and the crown; and I call this modified rod, presently'to be described, my

Referring to Figs. VI and VII, it may be. observed that my. lock split rod contains a plug 17 and a receptacle 18, the plug being here shown inserted in the receptacle. The plug may be of any desired cross section and 1 I here show it to be of circular section. The

' I provide a key way 20, internal to the receptacle. Said key way extends, from the outer end of the receptacle, longitudinally to or near the inner end of the cylinder and, ator near the inner end of the receptacle, con- Itmay be observed that each tenon 12 con tinues annularly, penetrating the internal cylinder through any convenient arc.

It should be noted that Figs. VI and VII show plug 17 locked, by its key 19, in recep- It may be tacle 18. Evidently one could not remove the plug from the receptacle by pulling the two longitudinally; for, as shown in Fig.

VI, key 19, being in key way 20, is' angularly removed from the longitudinal part of the key way. By first angularly moving the receptacle sufficiently and then-pulling" it longitudinally one may withdraw the receptacle from the plug.

In FigsrVI and VII the plug and recep: tacle are shown inthe' relative angular. osition they assume when. artificial toot .3, Fig. IV is in use. Simultaneously,'a's previously shown, 'plungers 8 upwardly lock saddle 2 to tenons 12, and mortises 5 lock I Thus plug 17, Figs. VI and VII is held immovable in receptacle 1'8. 7 When, however, the saddle is removed, in the foregoing manner, from'the mouth of the user, the tenons are unrestrained from the mortises. In consequence, the user, by

turning receptacle 18, as above mentioned, is

free to remove the receptacle fromgthe mouth. i

In this specification and the claims the' terms, mortise and tenon mean a cavity,

groove, or opening and a-mechanical element adapted to be received and grasped'by the mortise. From what precedes, it is'ob vious that the mortiseand tenon'arereciprocal elements of the foregoing attachment. The expression, abutment member means a crown, inlay, or band, devices that are well known in the art. 1

Having described my invention in the foregoing specification and further illustrated said invention in the accompanying drawings, I claim:

1. The combination of a denture provided with a mortise and with a slot, a plunger carried by said denture and slidable relatively thereto in order to be thrust into said mortise and withdrawn therefrom, a cushion carried by said denture and engaging said plunger in order to normally hold said plunger in the position into which it is thus thrust into said mortise, and a second denture provided with a tenon for detachably fitting into said mortise in order to hold the two dentures together, said tenon being provided with an opening for receiving said plunger as said plunger is thrust into said mortise While said tenon is within said mortise.

2. The combination of a denture provided with a mortise, a locking member carried by said denture and movable relatively thereto, in order to be moved partially into said mortise and withdrawn therefrom, a second denture provided with a tenon for fitting detachably into said mortise, said tenon having an opening for receiving said locking member in order to lock said tenon within said mortise, and adjusting mechanism carried by said tenon and engaging said looking member, said adjusting mechanism being controllable by the operator for shifting the position of the dentures relatively to each other.

3. The combinationeof a denture provided with a mortise, a plunger carried by said denture and movable partially into said mortise, a second denture provided with a tenon for fitting detachably into said mortise, said tenon having an opening for receiving a portion of said plunger when said plunger is moved partially into said mortise while said tenon occupies said mortise, and an adjusting screw carried by said tenon and positioned to engage said plunger while said plunger extends into. said opening, in order to adjust the position of said dentures relatively to each other.

EUGENE SEABROOK. 

